


Spirit Rising

by Merfilly



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Disability, Gen, Social Commentary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-25
Updated: 2012-11-25
Packaged: 2017-11-19 11:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/572669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Capiam finds his heir in the son of a determined woman, and maybe life on Pern will be better for it</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spirit Rising

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EllieMurasaki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieMurasaki/gifts).



Capiam looked at the woman, her child, and the strong will that blazed in the woman's eyes. Her son kept his head down, used to being shamed, no doubt, for being not-whole. It was an infuriating feeling, knowing it was part of his society to blame the children for their ailments, at least in some holds. Others were more thoughtful, but too much pity was almost as crippling as not enough sympathy.

"Banella, your son is as healthy as he can be. We don't have the techniques anymore for the kind of repair it takes." He spoke gently, trying to make this as easy as he could. "The cleft doesn't impede eating, drinking, or breathing, so there is, other than appearance, little impact he should suffer from it as he grows up."

"Master Healer, I'm from Fort's sea hold; they'll not take him aboard the ships there, and the only other life is that of a drudge! I've no kin left to foster him to, to give him a better life!" Banella was desperate to make her son's life more than that of a drudge.

"Small minded people, to put appearance above skill," Capiam muttered. He came from around his desk, going to crouch in front of the boy, a solid ten turns and of age to start an apprenticeship. "Kalin, what do you want to do?" he asked as he gently tipped the boy's face up so they could look eye-to-eye.

The boy's eyes went wide, and he started to shake his head, but Banella squeezed his hand. "I just want to be useful. More than a drudge. Think just fine, even if singing the Ballads is hard," he answered, talking carefully so the minor cleft did not impede his words.

"Yes, but what do you want to do? You grew up in a sea hold, so do you wish to sail and fish all your days?" Capiam pressed, thinking of Balen and other port-holds that would love to have any apprentices, given how vacated they were due to the Plague of the prior year.

Kalin started to say 'yes', for Capiam could see he wanted to please, but a child's honesty was a powerful thing, and he slowly shook his head. "I like it fine enough, Master Capiam, but I'd rather learn a trade inland."

"What trade would that be?" Capiam coaxed.

Kalin pursed his lips as best he could, hesitating now.

"Go on, Kalin, tell us what you want," his mother coaxed.

"Sir... can I learn to help others like me? If it was once a skill, can't it be again?"

Capiam rocked back on his heels, a smile coming to his lips, even as Banella looked shocked; the Healer Hall chose carefully and still had to ask for the parents to cover some of the cost of the child's clothing and belongings.

"I don't know if we can recover those skills exactly, Kalin, but if you wish to apprentice here, I will gladly take you on. May I ask why you want to?"

"People like me, or Durnell before he died, with his lame foot... We're not too broken to do proper work, but people look at us and see something not human!" Kalin blurted out. "And maybe I can't fix the ones like us, but maybe I can fix those who think so bad about us!" He then realized how much he'd said, and started to shrink back in on himself, but Capiam took his free hand in both of his own.

"You will be a fine healer in time, Kalin." He then looked at Ballena. "I'll cover his fees, Ballena. Though if you have no kin, and would not mind a move, we still have very little in the way of support staff here in the Hall," he offered, knowing how hard it would be for the mother to part from child at such a distance, nevermind that Ballena had found a way to bring her son in for a full exam.

"That would be mighty generous... and I will not say no." Ballena's eyes were wet, but she kept herself from being too demonstrative. "For Kalin, I'd walk through Fall itself. He's too quick-minded to be wasted as a drudge!"

"I agree." Capiam stood, and went to acquire two contracts, one for Apprenticeship, and the other for a contract worker so that he could make this final. "I can ask Tirone for assistance in going after your belongings. He's got apprentices to spare," Capiam added, trying not to think about how empty the barracks had been, before Tirone actively started recruiting among the orphans of various holds, waving fees for those who had no ability to pay them.

"Not much to take, though I do need to return the runner," Ballena told him, settling her mind to this new change of her life, and the brighter future for her son.

`~`~`~`~`

Taking Kalin in had not been just an act of kindness on Capiam's part. In Kalin, he saw the best of both passion and intelligence. At ten turns, the boy could see the injustice of discrimination, and he also truly wanted to help change it. It was as hard-hitting to Capiam's heart as those who trekked across the continent to become healers for the way their hold and hall healers had died to succor the sick.

Few of those who sought the Healer Hall on their own made it the complete way to mastery. Often, journeyman status and a posting back to their hold or hall was all they were looking for. Mastery came to those who found a part of medicine that appealed to their inner natures and a need for bettering humanity as a whole, not just patient by patient.

In Kalin, Capiam saw that burning need. While once, the healers had staffed a discipline devoted to healing the mind and soul, that discipline had fallen to the side, or resided with the Harper Hall now. Capiam dug deep into the records and his own notes, finding all the techniques he could against the day that Kalin had progressed as far as his classes could take him. The boy would be their next healer in that field, and Capiam knew it could not come soon enough, as the holes in their society made life harder, even with Thread's end in sight. He merely needed to fan those flames, and he would see his successor in this child he had reached out to.

`~`~`~`~`

_Ten Turns later_

"No."

Capiam and Kalin alike stared at Campen as if he had lost all reason. Kalin opened his mouth to speak, but Capiam laid a hand on the younger man's arm.

"Very well, Lord Campen. I see your sire's blood is strong in you." Capiam turned on his heel, making Kalin go with him.

"I am not asking that much!" Kalin ground out, walking at a brisk stride with Capiam. The Master Healer was not young, but still spry enough to match that angry gait.

"Campen, as I pointed out, is very much the son of the father. You will have heard the tales of what Tolocamp did during the Plague?" At Kalin's sharp nod, Capiam continued. "The fear of those who are less than the ideal is very real in the minds of some of those who are whole. It does not excuse it, and should be remedied with education, but it is there. Rather than make him more obstinate against your proposal, I have a second Hold in mind."

"Oh?" Kalin looked at his Master as they entered the Hall together.

"Lord Alessan is still in need of good men and women; he's only managed to repopulate half his Hold, the last time I looked in on him. Pitch your idea to him, and to his Lady. Do not mention today's interview with Campen though; it would make his Lady too apt to say yes without regard to your idea, and that is not what we want."

Kalin contemplated it, before answering. "I will prepare a runner beast this evening." He then smiled, the expression pulling at the cleft some. "At least Thread is gone and I can travel at will now!"

"That's the spirit!"

`~`~`~`~`

Alessan himself took the reins of Kalin's beast, watching the healer dismount with interest. "What brings you today... Master Kalin?" Alessan asked, taking in the new knots of Kalin's rank. "Congratulations are in order, it seems."

"I sat my exams just this past sevenday, Lord Alessan," Kalin said, removing the beast's tack. "I could ask why I find you in your stable, except I know your passion for the runnerbeasts."

"Yes, Fergal had asked me to come inspect a foal, and I saw you riding up, so I chose to let my curiosity hold sway," the Lord told the Healer.

Together, they got the runnerbeast cooled down, wiped off, and settled in a stall with grain and hay both in plentitude. Only once they were ensconced in Alessan's office did they begin to speak of business, the Lady Nerilka having joined them upon seeing them enter. She still performed the Warder's duties, despite their marriage and had an uncanny instinct for when she should be present.

"I hope I am not imposing on your time, Lady and Lord, but Master Capiam said you might be willing to help me," Kalin said. "I have a proposal, and it requires the sponsorship of a hold that would be willing to aid me with facilities and supplies."

"I will listen, and we both have time to spare you today," Alessan said, growing serious. Nerilka nodded, pulling a sand tray over to make notes if necessary.

"I'm certain Desdra has mentioned my focus on helping those with disabilities, either scouring the records for old treatments or helping them adjust and move to a new way of life?"

"Yes. You were a large part in helping Denner relearn his skills after that scoring took his hand," Nerilka said, showing she did pay attention to life in the cotholds of Ruatha. Kalin nodded, refusing to be embarrassed at having his work known.

"It's one thing to help adults. But all too often children with very minor differences are pushed into the lowest class of living because no one will 'waste' time teaching them," Kalin said, eyes darkened by memory of what Banella had saved him from. 

"And you want to set up a training facility to bring these children to, to ready them for apprenticeship into crafts or berths in established holds?" Nerilka asked, which made him smile and nod fiercely.

"I know it works; my mother saved me from drudgery by pleading my case, and I have already proven I was a solid investment for Master Capiam. I can do that for these other children, and show more of society that they are failing to notice very capable people!"

Alessan had been frowning, but he leaned forward to show his interest. "If you had the backing of a reputable Lord and Lady, your program would be more acceptable to others, maybe imitated? Yet, I hesitate, as Ruatha is still very much on the subsistence level, which requires much in the way of hard work. These children..."

"...will be able to provide and contribute!" Kalin interjected, tone a bit more forceful than before. "Lord Alessan, Lady Nerilka, understand this: I recognize that some children and adults are born or marked too hard by life to survive by taking their own matters in their own hands. I still do not agree with how we handle them, but those I can save, who only need skills to prove themselves... I will find a way to help them!"

Lady Nerilka reached out, grasping his hand, and smiling at him. "Oh you have such a noble heart! And yes, we will house your project."

"We will," Alessan agreed, having wanted to, but Kalin's reassurance meant he could do so in clear conscience over the futures of the young people he would soon house. "Which means Tuero needs to be told, so he understands he's to have more students. Maybe now he'll accept a journeyman?"

Nerilka laughed at the idea. Tuero had been a part of their lives since the Plague, only leaving long enough to pass his Mastery when it was the right time. "Perhaps."

"Then..." Kalin questioned, not quite willing to believe this.

"We'll move some of the people in the Hold proper around, then clear a part of the second floor to keep it easier on your physically challenged students," Nerilka decided. "All students will be screened by you for skill placement, and our various craftsmen and workers will be encouraged to earn credits with us by donating their teaching to your endeavour," she added, making Kalin's jaw nearly drop. "I assume you will be taking them in at the first year or younger as far as Apprenticeship would normally go?"

"Umm..."

"That way, those that show a true head for a craft can be forwarded on the correct Hall with letters of recommendation," Nerilka told him, eyes twinkling as she continued, making her husband sit back and enjoy as Kalin realized just how quickly Nerilka had grasped his entire idea.

"And this means you will be posted here, Master Kalin," Lord Alessan said, reaching for a contract from his desk. "Desdra will be pleased to get Suzan back, I am certain, as the young woman is a gifted surgeon needed for journeying."

"I... I only came to ask," Kalin finally said.

"And you have. Knowing you have thought it through, and seeing the generosity of humanity in your desire for this, we are more than willing to get it started now, Kalin," Nerilka told him, more than able to speak in her Lord's name. "Would you like to ride back with Suzan to arrange things, or shall I drum the Weyr for conveyance for you both?"

Kalin stared at her, then shook his head and began to laugh, smiling slow and warm. "Now I see why Capiam sent me to you, of all Holds. You don't see a broken person in me, and you won't in the children I seek to help."

"Of course not," Alessan told him firmly. "We've both seen the worst mankind can offer, and the best, and it is not a matter of what the package is shaped in," he said. He let his wife take his hand, shifting in his chair so she could move to the edge of it, a clear affection between them holding darker memories at bay.

"Then I am honored to accept your posting, and feel certain my Master will approve it."

"He sent you to us, so I think so," Nerilka answered that.

`~`~`~`~`

Kalin watched as training opened its first day with a class from Fergal on basic runnerbeast care and usage, all fifteen of his first students rapt and still a bit shy at the future that had been opened to them.

With this first class, and the ones that would come after, he would show all of Pern that they had wasted far too many lives. The children would not suffer as they might have, and everyone would gain by his work.

"I am proud of you," Capiam said, having come to see this day. "You have done well by your wish to make things better," he added, squeezing his fellow healer's shoulder.

The cleft didn't hurt nearly as much as it once had when Kalin smiled, nodding once, as he let his heart believe that this was but the start.


End file.
